Chamorro Sworn In as Nicaragua’s President Before Cheering Crowd

Violeta Chamorro, the newspaper publisher whose U.S.-backed alliance ended 10 years of leftist rule, was sworn in as president of Nicaragua today before foreign dignitaries and cheering supporters.

Outgoing President Daniel Ortega, who helped lead the Sandinista revolution, placed the presidential sash on Chamorro at an open-air baseball stadium.

The frail Chamorro defeated Ortega in February with 55% of the vote and since has been embroiled in a series of controversies surrounding the transition of power.

The latest dispute involved the 100,000-member army, the largest in Central America. Sources within Chamorro’s National Opposition Union said before the inauguration that she had decided to retain Gen. Humberto Ortega as head of army--a decision sure to ruffle some of her supporters.

There was no official announcement, however, regarding Gen. Ortega, who is Daniel Ortega’s older brother and was his defense minister.

The inauguration ended 10 years of rule by the leftist Sandinista party that overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza, the ruler whose supporters murdered Chamorro’s husband in 1978.

The new 60-year-old president served briefly in the Sandinista government after the 1979 revolution but soon withdrew to spend her energy running La Prensa, the opposition newspaper.

The ceremony began in an atmosphere of festivity, as supporters of both the outgoing Sandinista government and Chamorro arrived wearing T-shirts and carrying flags in the colors of their parties.

Security was tight at the stadium where police formed security rings inside and outside the walls.

About 100 heads of state, former heads of state and politicians from around the world were driven into the stadium and took their seats to the cheers of the crowd in the stadium, which holds about 20,000 people.

Vice President Dan Quayle was cheered and booed as he left his limousine to take his seat at the ceremonies.

Quayle, who led a 30-member U.S. delegation to Chamorro’s inauguration, was the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Nicaragua in more than a decade.

In Washington, President Bush ordered $2.5 million in emergency medical assistance to Nicaragua and ended limits on sugar purchases, the final U.S. economic sanction.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the United States--which armed the Contra rebels and imposed a range of sanctions against the Sandinista government--will do all it can to help the new government.

UNO hard-liners and still-armed Contra rebels in northern Nicaragua have insisted that Gen. Ortega, 44, be removed not only from his post as defense minister but also as head of the army, the most powerful in Central America.

An UNO statement Tuesday said Chamorro would lose support from the alliance if she allowed Ortega to stay.

Other Chamorro aides argued that Gen. Ortega could be instrumental in a stable transition while Contra rebels begin disarming under terms of an accord signed in March.

Under an agreement hammered out by Chamorro, the Contras and the incoming Chamorro government, the rebels will begin disarming today and be completely demobilized by June 10.